To all who weighed in with advice on my non-starting 240, I want to report the outcome. To briefly recap, it cranked but would not start and I ordered (and prepaid) a fuel pump before a few wise heads here warned me off that course, pointing out they rarely fail. I canceled and got my money back.

Later, I confirmed fuel was getting past the pump and filter, and did a spark plug test that showed a good spark. Gave up and called a tow truck.

The mechanic said the car would not start because of a bad distributor cap. He said that while a plug may show spark when tested outside the engine, it might not do so under compression.

The bill for cap, wires, plugs, pcv valve, repaired vaccuum leaks, general tuneup etc: $290.

As a bonus, that repair made the car pass emissions inspection. It had failed previously, and the garage that did the inspection said, wrongly, that I needed to replace the cat converter.

So, thanks to all for your help, and especially for saving me $150 on a fuel pump I didn't need.

Cheers

Cal